Dear Parents and Caregivers
It’s hard to believe that there are only a handful of weeks left in the 2023 school year. We are now getting down to the ‘business end’ of everything, and as usual, there will be plenty happening here at Mary Mac. At this Friday’s assembly, we will hold a small ceremony to acknowledge Remembrance Day which falls on Saturday this week. With so much conflict around the world at the moment, it will be a good opportunity to remember all those who have died or suffered because of war. Please remember to keep praying for all the innocent civilians caught up in conflicts now in Ukraine and Israel. It makes the things we get caught up worrying about seem very insignificant.
Awareness/Compassion Reflection Society has arisen out of the works of peace; the essence of society is peacemaking. Peace, and not war, is the father of all things.
Car Park Recently, we have received a number of complaints from local residents regarding the way our parents are using the Cassowary Drive entrance and exit. Parents are reminded that you MUST ONLY TURN LEFT WHEN LEAVING THE CARPARK IN THE AFTERNOONS AND MORNINGS. Even though everyone knows this rule, a few parents choose to disregard it, which causes congestion and angst. If this doesn’t improve, it sounds like the local residents will get the local rangers and/or the police involved. Please make sure you do the right thing by our school community and the wider community.
Year 5 Summer Carnival As we prepare to hand over the leadership baton to our Year 5 students, they get their fist taste of some of the privileges the Year 6 students receive. On Friday 17 November, across a couple of venues, they will participate in an interschool summer sports carnival. Mr Boyce has already sent home all the details, and as usual, it will be a lot of fun for our students. Parents and grandparents are most welcome to come along and support our competitors.
Annual Community Meeting for the School Advisory Council and P&F All parents are invited to join our staff for the annual reports from the School Advisory Council and the P&F. Both bodies have an important role to play in our community. The SAC help me with the financial direction of the school so that it benefits all students and the P&F focus on community building and fundraising. As we have enough members to make up the SAC for 2024, we won’t need to hold an election. However, the P&F are still very keen to have new members as we have managed to run it this year with a very small committee. The meeting will be held in the hall on Monday 20 November from 5.15pm. Please do try to come along and support our parents who so generously give their time for the benefit of everyone in our community.
Kindergarten Orientation Our annual orientation for the next intake of Kindergarten students will take place on Tuesday 21 November. The session for existing families takes place from 9.00am to 9.45am and for new families, it goes from 10.00am to 10.45am. Currently, our school is very full in all year levels. However, we do have some spaces left in our Kindergarten next year. I know people think it is very difficult to get into Mary Mac these days, so please let your friends and family know that we can take a few more in Kindergarten next year if they would like to become a part of our beautiful community.
Awards Ceremony. On Wednesday 22 November, we will acknowledge some of our students who will be receiving awards for their accomplishments this year. Unfortunately, we can’t give every student an award, however, it is still important to acknowledge those students who excel. Following the Awards Ceremony, we will hold a lovely morning tea in the staffroom for all of you who have volunteered in some way. Everything we do here is always for the students, and if you have volunteered your time for their benefit, then please come along so we can thank you in this special way. This is always a big day on our calendar and I look forward to seeing you there.
It’s the time of the year when the teachers are busy writing reports and soon, I will be reading them. I always look forward to hearing just how well our students have achieved so much yet again.
Yours sincerely
Laurie Bechelli